Algonquin Books Blog

Oh wait, that’s not quite right. Maybe we’re a little too excited for Steven Spielberg’s movie Lincolnstarring Daniel Day-Lewis and out today, but it certainly is a nice companion for our Lucky 7 e-book, Lincoln on War, edited by Harold Holzer. Pick up some portable reading for your wait in line at the box office line. Through November 30th, Lincoln on War is just $1.99 — far less expensive than a small popcorn and much more filling!

President Lincoln used his own weapons—his words— to fight the Civil War as brilliantly as any general who ever took the field.

In Lincoln on War, historian Harold Holzer gathers and interprets Lincoln’s speeches, letters, memoranda, orders, telegrams, and casual remarks, organizing them chronologically and allowing readers to experience Lincoln’s growth from an eager young Indian War officer to a middle-aged dove congressman to a surprisingly hardened and determined hawk as the Union’s commander-in-chief.

We observe a man willing to sacrifice life and treasure in unprecedented quantities, to risk wounding the pride of vain generals, and even to mislead the public if it meant the preservation of an unbreakable union of states, the destruction of slavery, and the restoration of America as an example to inspire the world. This volume covers strategy; tactics; the endless hiring, sustaining, motivating, and dismissal of commanders; military discipline; and military technology. Modern commanders-in-chief have repeatedly quoted Lincoln to justify their own wars, so it behooves us as citizens to know Lincoln’s record well. From masterpieces such as the Gettysburg Address to lesser-known meditations on God’s purposes, Lincoln on War is the first book to highlight exclusively Lincoln’s sublime and enduring words on war.

“This compact and powerful volume is a dramatic account of the most decisive conflict in the American history in the words of its principal architect, and is long overdue.” – Publishers Weekly